The prior U.S. Pat. to Logan D. McCabe No. 3,464,131 relates to a spreader-feeder for a flatwork ironer including a series of parallel conveyors diverging from each side of a central feeding mechanism including a pair of vertically spaced conveyors extending along the center of the machine for a portion of the length thereof. This spreader-feeder also has parallel belt conveyors extending from the diverging spreader conveyors to the discharge end of the machine and requires air jets to maintain the laundered articles in a spread condition as fed to the ironing machine, all of which require individual motors and generally complicate the machine. The U.S. Pat. to Roiland No. 3,228,127; Buss U.S. Pat. No. 3,153,291 and Pocock U.S. Pat. No. 2,585,834 show forms of spreader-feeders of a relatively complicated construction. While the Buss Patent is of a simpler construction than the aforementioned prior patents, in the apparatus of this patent, the sheet apparently is fed along the top reaches of diverging belts diverging from the entering end of the apparatus. These diverging belts are higher than the spaced carry-away belts and no lateral spreading pressure nip is provided. The sheet is fed over the top reaches of the diverging belts along the top reach of a central driven belt engaged by a top pressure belt, which forms the only feeding apparatus for the laundered articles, and insofar as applicants are aware, has never been an efficient spreader-feeder.
By the apparatus of the present invention, we provide a relatively short machine mounted on a mobile main frame which is so versatile as to feed and spread anything from napkins and table linen to king-size sheets without adjustment. This is attained by a main drive belt extending along the central part of the apparatus for a portion of the length of the apparatus, engaging and driving a pincher belt and by diverging upper and lower vertically aligned spreader belts diverging from the entering end of the main drive belt at equal angles, and providing pressure nips spreading the articles laterally as advanced by the main drive belt, with carry-out belts parallel to the main drive belt and extending from the spreader belts to the carry-out end of the machine in the same horizontal plane as the plane of the pressure nips between the diverging belts and the main drive belt and pincher belt. The top diverging belts and front end of the pincher belt are supported on adjustable stabilizing arms, to enable the pressure nips between the belts to give and to be adjusted. The top diverging belts run at a slightly higher speed than the lower belts to aid in the spreading operation. We further provide a single drive motor driving variable speed gearing that will vary the speeds of the belts from 28 to 200 feet per minute and efficiently drive all of the belts of the apparatus through positive drive connections. A semi-ovate apron is at the entering end of the apparatus for keeping the articles square as fed into the machine and a guard at the entering end of the apparatus prevents the pull-in of a misfed article, all of which features differ from the prior art and are distinct improvements of former spreader-feeders.
The advantages of the present invention are in the simplicity and adaptability of the apparatus to feed-in napkins and table linen as well as sheets up to king-size without adjustment of the apparatus.
A further advantage of the present apparatus over those of the prior art is in the provision of stabilizing arms and the single yoke extending across the apparatus, supporting the diverging entering ends of the top spreader belts and the pincher belt which provide an adjustable pressure control of the nips between these belts and allow for limited vertical movement of the belts.
A further advantage is the provision of a pressure bar extending the width of the machine to hold down articles of varying widths as fed to the ironer.
A still further advantage is in the drive to all of the belts through a single motor, and simplified drive connections from this motor to the belts, in which the top spreader belt is driven at a slightly higher speed than the lower belt to aid in spreading the articles as fed therebetween.
Still another advantage of the invention is the provision of a semi-ovate apron at the entering end of the apparatus for keeping laundered articles square as fed into the machine, together with a guard at the entering end of the main drive belt and pincher belt, preventing the feed-in of misaligned articles.
Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be readily apparent from the following description of preferred embodiments thereof, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, although variations and modifications may be effected without departing from the spirit and scope of the novel concepts of the disclosure.